


Metro.

by TheSlowBurner



Category: Metro 2033 - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, metro 2033 AU, metro last light au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:30:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5971996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlowBurner/pseuds/TheSlowBurner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when your Boyfriend is always absent but you have a stranger who manages to fill the void?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Why did I move to Moscow? Why did it have to be Moscow?” you poured a nice hot cup of coffee and sipped after it cooled all the while gazing out the window of your partner’s apartment. As usual, it was a gloomy day, streets wet with snow as winter had finally settled in.

Turning towards the bed you smiled and sat in his long t-shirt. You stroked his dark hair from his face as it lay serene. It wasn’t half as bad idea anyway, Moscow had some distinguishable designers, if not that then down right idiosyncratic. But it was good that way, allowed a wide range for shoot. And that was your main occupation, well at least it took up most you time anyway, searching for suitable shoots for each designer. Today was Masha Efremenko’s headpieces and where would they look good. Luckily you had the perfect place in mind.

Muromtzevo Mansion, sure the outside architecture didn’t fit the designers criteria, but the surrounding garden and interior were beyond perfect. So there you were, at 5:30 am getting dressed and heading toward Moscow train station to sit yourself down for a whole five hours to get there. It wasn’t the best day either as you were already freezing when you entered the lobby, and it didn’t get any better by the time you made it outside, but ou endured it anyway as you were getting aid nice lump sum, well more than your night-time job bar-tending anyway.

***

 

*"Pavel! You lazy piece of shit, GET UP!”* Pavel, stirred awake after all the yelling and rustling happening beyond his closed eyes, when he finally opened them he was in two worlds of pain, his eyes stung as if someone poured vodka in them and what he guessed was his pack, had been thrown, in which he guessed was thrown by Artyom, and landed harshly on his side. *“ok, ok, I’m up … Stupid Blyadj”*

 

As the rest of the troops headed out, Pavel rubbed his neck from the pain he managed last night of getting into a brawl whilst getting drunk. Again. *“BLYADJ”* he hissed one last time before getting into uniform.

 

There was always one good thing with the middle of winter rolling around, he got to return to his more favorable job in his shitty, government paid for apartment. It was easy money, well for him anyway. He’d get people to pay him to record somethings, sometimes it was nasty shit, sometimes it was pleasing shit, and other times it was boring bullshit for insurance and what not, but that was rare.

 

All the guys in his squadron loved getting the leftovers for a cheap price, leftovers meaning, if it was good or fucked up enough, Pavel would make a copy for the boys. Except Artyom, he never gave two shits about Pavel’s other profession, but he did lecture Pavel on how it was wrong, but at least it was extra money in his pocket, Artyom couldn’t argue with that.

 

Geared up and ready to enjoy his life style, he headed toward the Moscow bus, readying to line up near Artyom, until the pain in the ass General Miller called after him. Of course it would be Pavel he had to hold back. Pavel hissed in a deep breath, wiped off his grimaced face and slapped a sarcastic smile and spun around and faced the general with a bubbly attitude, one in which miller detested *“Yes! General. What can I do to appease you?”*

 

The general, as always had a stern demeanor, his face, his eyes, even the way his arms folded over his chest. Hell! He could almost be mistaken for a marble statue of Hades look the way he did.

 

He pointed at Pavel harshly and spoke with a matching tone *“First, I want you to wipe that smart ass tone off yourself. SECONDLY. I want you to head to Muromtzevo Mansion to make sure there are no shithead teenagers running a muck and gaffitying there”*. Pavel groaned in his mind, because if he did groan in front of the General, he would never get that promotion he is sure to get, or so he keeps telling himself.

 

However, he did protest against the order. *“But General Miller, It’s way out in the country, why would kids come all the way from the city--”* but there’s no arguing with a reincarnation of Hades himself. *"Enough! The mansion is a military outpost all the same. If you don’t want to head to Muromtzevo, I can keep you here and get you to scrub the floors with a toothbrush. Do I make myself clear Morozov?"*

 

Although Pavel Didn’t like either of the options he chose the wisest nonetheless. *“Yes General Miller”*. The General eased and nodded approvingly and headed off *“Thank you General Miller!”* Pavel shouted sarcastically after his superior with a bit of spite, and Miller had sensed this, *“don’t give me that bullshit”* he shouted in reply.

 

Pavel spun back and headed towards the military vehicles, bag and all, and hissed under his breath “blyadj…”

***

 

You arrived at the mansion around 11:00 am. You noticed the gates were closed and thought if it was a bad idea to head in. You pushed the gate and luckily it buckled open. ‘Well at least it’s not locked so I guess it’s not illegal?’. You made your way inside cautiously. Your feet crushing the snow loudly as there were no other signs of life around besides the overgrowth of foliage.

 

You gazed around before you went any further you noticed a red sign with Russian writing, It was vandalised and scratched. So not only were you bad at reading Russian but the state the sign was in didn’t help either. The only part you could make out were useless anyway '__не пустить____из пост', Which absolutely told you nothing so you tried shouting for someone “Hello?”. You waited a minute and thought maybe they don’t know English? “Zdravstvuyte? kto-to tam?" again you waited only longer this time. Still no reply, could be that your Russian was poor but even then.

 

So you continued on. You started with the garden, taking photos of the small ponds, then made our way inside. The inside was bright enough from the snows reflection and it was so peaceful inside, just the eerie sound of the wind making its way through the old halls. You snapped a few more shots. You noticed the lens was getting a bit of “frost bite” from the cold air, and so you decided to change lenses.

 

As you had just taken the camera strap off from around your neck you heard a loud car door slam and you dropped you $2000 camera. “Fuck!” you hissed.

 

The lenses and camera were the two largest pieces, but you were more worried about the two smaller pieces that lay between them. As you started picking them up you heard a deep voice shout from outside. You heard heavy footsteps in the snow get closer and closer and began to panic ‘Shit! I can’t go to a jail! Not after this shit happens! Not in fucking Russia!’

 

You hurriedly grabbed your things and rushed out towards the back. Just before passing around a corner of a hallway you heard the voice shout again, as if it was right behind you, and foot falls following.

***

 

A half hour away, he turned down his music to really sneak up on these teens if there were any. As he pulled up to the gate he noticed it was ajar and muttered under his breath “…blyadj”. Pavel exited the jeep and slammed the door to get these kids scattering. He looked at the warning sign and tried to wipe the residue snow from it. *“Mat’ ublyhdok…”*. Annoyed and frustrated, he shouted out the suspecting violators *“Get out here you little shits!”*

 

After no reply he stomped his way to the mansion and spotted a woman, who appeared to be gathering something in a flurry. She began in a spring and Pavel, Annoyed, pissed off and not in the mood for this shit followed after he and called out. He noticed she had forgotten her lens cap and snatched it before chasing after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> essential the asterix' beside some of the dialogue is just indicating that it is spoken in Russian.


	2. Chapter 2.

You ran outside and of all things, you missed a step from the entrance and down you went. Trying to gather yourself betwixt the snow and items all over the place you felt two strong hands grip your shoulders hard and yank you from the ground, leaving your camera pieces to the cold snow.

The hands rotated you forcefully and you tried attacking your assailant but those hands again had ceased your flailing. However, you pushed him away successfully and glanced into those bright blue eyes. He raised his hands to show he was trying not to hurt you and gestured to your camera. He picked it up as you watched him carefully until you both looked toward the object only to focus on 3 distinguishable furry shapes of wolves.

 

He picked up the camera slowly and backed up toward you slowly, but you noticed he had not picked up the lens. Sure you had another in your bag, but just that one lens was almost the most valuable item you owned apart from the actual camera. Nonetheless, he kept backing up and wanted you to do the same while smoothly and calmly saying *'just keep slowly backing up"*.

 

But you couldn’t leave the lens and you hated youself for it so you had to grab it. “The lens!” you heard him give a little questioned noise and started again pointing abruptly to the item 2 feet in front. “The lens…uh, linzy” which caused the wolves to sheer and lower their large heads. You flinched a bit and watched this soldier, but your eyes kept returning to the lens.

 

He stayed still for a couple of seconds and lunged for the lens, gaining balance again, before you could even register in your head, he gripped your hand tight and pretty much dragged you inside. Twisting and turning you could feel the wolves’ hot breath on your feet and the wind from their snapping jaws.

 

He released you hand and pushed you inside a doorway and slammed it shut, making the wolves slame hard into the wooden panel. It was quiet except for the creatures sniffing around the door. Then true silence. A moment had passed and you wondered if it was safe, but before you could confirm, you glanced out the window and the wolves had amanaged to keep the chase on. Again it was a sudden sprint to the safest place, but as you turned to see if the soldier was behind you, you saw him pull out some sort of large knife and readied himself.

 

The large wolf attacked with crazed aggression. You screamed for his safety, despite the weight of the wold on top of him, he managed to wound it, resulting for the wolf to bounce off and regroup.

 

As the soldier raised to his feet, he readied himself again, only to look back to you. Seeming to forget he had to take care of, he spun from his battle and grabbed hold of your hand. Only at the last moment you saw the camera lying on the floor and lurched forward. *“LEAVE IT!”* he had snapped but you couldn’t, so you ripped your hand from him and ran towards the wolves. First you had managed to kick one in the face as it leaped toward you, and in turn, the adrenaline started pumping.

 

Unfortunately, the kick had thrown you off balance when you landed you foot, and tumbling you went toward the camera. It was lucky it was in front of you, otherwise you would have made all this effort just to get mauled. You snatched it and struggled to your feet only for your calf to be in atrocious pain from a set of jaws around your lower leg and teeth embedded in the flesh.

 

You wanted to scream but you only turned and smacked the wolf in its eye with the camera and it had freed you from its vice. The wounded wolf, you saw was just about ready to make its second approach only to be scattered from a canister with smoke fuming out either side. Next moment, you turned to the soldier without thinking and followed him in as much of a sprint as possible into what seemed to be a broom closet.

 

You both stood there for some long moments before the adrenaline had worn off and the pain had hit you like a freight train. The soldier must have known it was coming as just you were about to scream and collapse, he clasped a hand over your mouth and wrapped an arm around the small of your back and held you up.

 

“hey, hey, don’t pass out on me… It’s alright, I got you” His English wasn’t horrible, and it had comforted you a little, but the pain was far too sharp to stay on your feet. It felt like he had read your mind twice as he lifted your legs from the ground and you were in his arms. You weren’t exactly comfortable, since you didn’t know him, but in a physical way, your body was.

 

He set you down easy and began to remove your boots, getting his knife out again, he began cutting around the wound and tried to make light of the situation. “I bet this will put you off having a dog for a while, eh? By the way my name is Pavel Morozov. I’d take you out to dinner before I start ripping your clothes off but… you know. Dire time and dire need.” He gave you a cheeky smile and when you really did look at his face, you noticed he was pretty cute… handsome. You returned the smile, but hissed when he poured some form of liquid over the gash.

 

Pavel then proceeded to drink from the container which in fact was a flask and you grimaced. He shook the bottle a little and smiled a gain “Vodka”. He handed you the flask, and you reached for it desperately, upon grasping it, you skimmed each other’s fingers ever so slightly, feeling how warm be was despite the freezing temperature.

 

You took a large gulp and cringed at the after burn and taste. He chuckled and returned the canister from you and took a swig. “Homemade… have a couple of bottles at home in exchange for a favour for a” he paused to find a word to replace client in any chance of suspicion “friend.” 

 

Pavel wasn’t exactly ecstatic to tell people what his other occupation was, but at least he had some ‘antibiotics’ from it and a pick up line. Speaking of, he had wondered what she was up to with her camera and all. “Couple of bottles at my place and that bite will be fine” Pavel winked and struggled some spare bandages from one of his many uniform pockets.

 

You laughed shyly and ‘regretfully’ said “I’m not a drinker” he lifted your leg carefully and sighed. “Aah well… Wouldn’t expect a girl like you to drink.” Again no matter how bad the situation, he managed to give another cheeky smile.

 

“Now, let’s see… tkt-tkt-tkt-tkt-tkt… *doesn’t look too bad… I think I can…*” he began carefully. He leaned in close at one point and you couldn’t help but stare at his cold eyes, how they almost looked dead.

 

He shifted his position from beside your legs to moving one over, making you basically wrap your legs around him. You blushed a bit when he placed his hand and gripped your upper thigh enough to hold it steady as he finished dressing your lower leg.

 

By this point, your head began spinning harshly from blood loss. Again you were about to pass out but he caught you as you began to fall forward. You put your hands on his arms for support as he raised you to a seated position. Without thinking, you removed your hand from his arm and placed it neatly over his jawline.

 

You didn’t know if it was the adventure or the blood loss, but you started leaning in closer and closer, until you were centimetres away, enough so you could feel his cool breath on your lips. Just as you were about to thank him, he closed the distance and met skin to skin.

 

The contact was short, but it felt longer than it was as you felt your hand pull at his jaw softly, and his hands smooth over your hips. Just when his radio had gone off, you panicked and broke contact immediately. What were you thinking? Truth of the fact you weren’t. Pavel could sense that you felt it was a mistake.

 

He distanced himself with a pained moan knowing full well who was trying to contact him. He replied to the transmission, leaning in to the radio on his jacket *“This is Captain Morozov on the channel, what is it”* Pavel gazed out the small window in the closet which had allowed the only, bright, white light to flood inside. His eyes were a snatching pale with the light and glistened when he kept still enough. A small moment had gone by before a buzzed noise came through.

 

*“Captain Morozov, this is General Miller, how is the check-up going?”* Pavel sighed, annoyed and supposedly thinking of a way not to bring you up, he gave you a glance, smiled and winked *“just ran into some wild dogs, but they scattered, nothing to worry about”* 

 

You weren’t too good at Russian but you didn’t hear anything about a camera or a girl, so you guessed he kept you safe, not only from the wolves but from who called. Which you guessed was his boss, telling from the demeanour he changed whilst talking.

 

Again radio static began and more Russian *“copy that. Don’t do anything stupid while you’re off duty, Can’t afford losing another one of you shitheads”* despite the General’s harsh words, Pavel knew they were heartfelt, considering what happened to a squadron last year around the same time. Holding the button, the Captain let a moment of silence of by and finally responded *“yes Major General Miller. Until spring.”* another buzz and that stern voice again *“until spring”*.

 

Pavel returned the walkie back to his shoulder and turned to you with that same smile again. You waited for him to give you the results and his smile grew. You raised an eyebrow. “Is that a good or bad sign?” He gathered you up and started back toward the front, checking corners for any sign of trouble.

 

Once you were outside heading toward his vehicle, he set you down gently and rummaged through the jeep. You took in the view of all white and dark green. Again there was that pure silence when you first arrived. When you noticed the complete silence, you returned your attention to Pavel who had found what he was looking for.

 

Approaching you with a hard face, he revealed a med kit and hoisted your leg onto his knee. It hurt but you managed to hold a whimper in. Again he made that noise, you guessed he did whenever he was thinking “aah, tkt-tkt-tkt-tkt-tkt…” and finished patching you up. 

 

He lifted you and gently placed you in the seat next to the empty drivers and soon filled the spot next to you. He brought the car to life and made off. He assured you that you didn’t need a hospital and that his training was pretty full on when it comes to wounds.

 

A long moment of driving in silence before you decided to thank him “You know, back there, it’s not how I usually show my gratitude” He slapped the steering wheel and laughed. “I’d hope not, otherwise a girl like you I would want to be doing things for you left, right and centre.” Again he began his loud chuckles and you joined along.

 

Once you both had your fill, you could sense him preparing to ask a question, starting with one of those awkward coughs. “Speaking of, you wouldn’t happen to already have a man indulging in that gratitude?” you gave him a confused look but he kept his eyes on the road, cheeks going red out of embarrassment or maybe shyness.

 

“What? Like a boyfriend?” you asked in a playful accusing manner. After this, it seemed he didn’t want to respond, mostly because he didn’t want to raise his hope too high but he managed to swallow that fear and muster a smug smile with his tongue snug in between his teeth. “Yeah, Like a boyfriend.”

 

His smile had made you wish you didn’t have a boyfriend and so you badly wanted to say no, to have this one fling, but you knew better than to be unfaithful so you gave him an apologetic smile in response. He nodded with an approved smile. “Why wouldn’t you? You’re beauty—pretty.” He didn’t want to seem like a weird pushover but he continued on jokingly “Adventurous, courageous.” You smiled bashfully and just laughed at his jokes. “Stupid?” you added in. he chuckled again.

 

You didn’t want to seem like this amazing person straight off the bat, especially considering that you wanted to commit adultery a minute ago.

 

But there just seemed to be something about him, you felt incredibly comfortable in his presence, even more than your own partner. It could have been the fact that maybe he had just saved your life, but you wouldn’t have let anyone else kiss you the way he had.


	3. Chapter 3.

The ar ride was long, and you didn’t end up seeing the city lights until after dark, but it was a fun journey anyway. Pavel had felt the same comfort as you have as he sang horribly to popular songs, even danced a little making you giggle like when you first met your partner.

 

He pointed toward the oncoming city “You don’t get a view like that anywhere else. A beautiful explosion of Life” You gazed at him and he seemed mesmerized by Moscow, as if this was the first time seeing it. You smiled to his reaction and at the exact moment he turned his gaze to you, the same starry eyed look on his face. He wasn’t expecting for you to already be staring or even smiling and you weren’t expecting him ti look at you the way he looked at his city. You both weren’t expecting to hold each other’s eyes for this long and both looked away simultaneously.

 

Finally there came the awkward silence you’re supposed to have with a stranger. Then came a painfully unpleasant silence upon entering the lively city before he had made preparation cough for a question, considering Pavel felt a bit uneasy after that stare. She’s supposed to have a boyfriend, someone she loves to stare at like that, Pavel thought. He quickly used the subject of her partner to stop from exciting himself. “So… Your boyfriend, what kind of work does he do?” it was good he brought up your boyfriend because for a moment you were adamant to wanting to forget him. “He’s a… He’s a musician.” Answering his question you posed one to yourself, wondering if he made any money from being an entertainer.

 

Turning around a corner, you started recognising the area a bit more. You weren’t sure if he was going to drop you off at a station or what the other plan was but just when you were going to have to ask to be dropped off at the station he had posed many other questions.

 

“Ahh, musicians usually get the ladies. Why did you go alone to the country? Musicians usually work nights, don’t they?” You felt like Pavel was trying to accuse your partner pf being a bad boyfriend but swept it from your head. “Yeah they usually do but he had a photographer from a record company come to the apartment and stuff like that.

 

Pavel raised his eyebrows, he was sure now with, not only the knowledge of her boyfriend being a musician but also a growing name musician, that he can’t really be trusted, especially if he ditches his girl to go to the country alone to take photos of himself.

 

From the corner of your eye you could see Pavel’s small gesture of amazement and turned your full body towards him defensively. You were a bit taken aback at the disapproval but smiled in disbelief. “What? What’s wrong with dating a musician?”

 

He cringed at the foreseeable future that it was going to go all downhill from here, and so he thought, might as well say everything I got to say. “It’s not all because he’s a musician—“ you scoffed in bewilderment, you couldn’t believe this guy you just met and he’s trying to tell you your boyfriend’s a bad guy. “It’s the fact that he left you go to an isolated place where dangerous things can and did happen, alone so he could take photos of himself.”

 

You could almost see where he was coming from but you’ve done much worse before you met Alexey, and besides, this was a big thing for him. But you didn’t want to have to justify yourself and asked that he stop the car, despite the location. He did as you said but locked the door just as you were about to exit.

 

You glared at him to see what he was up to but relaxed when his expression was complete worry. “I’ll stop the car but I won’t let you out, not in this neighbourhood at least.” Pavel knew this because he not only grew up here, but many of his clients, who were also drug dealers and all sorts of abusive people lived here, as well as himself.

 

You looked around, from the inside and were glad he warned you. A group of men had walked passed and slammed on the car, gesturing provocative hand signals before Pavel had yelled and pestered them off *"Fuck off you grubs!"*

 

After the men passed you grudgingly returned your seatbelt into place and sat back. “Fine.” You were glad but also frustrated you had to stay in his presence a bit longer. Pavel dropped you off at the station as you wanted, despite his best interest to drop you at your apartment.

 

You wanted to wait until he left but he insisted he stay until your boyfriend arrived. You dreaded Pavel meeting him but you couldn’t shake him off. You called Alexey numerous times, until the fourth try he picked up. All the while you feared Pavel was just staring, thinking the worst of Alexey as he began to talk. Pavel felt sure something was up with this guy, and had made a mental not to put his second occupation to good use.

 

Finally getting a hold, he answered sounding almost puffed and jovial. “Hey, can you pick me p from the station?” A moment of cold silence passed before he answered, claiming he was across town at the record company office. You could start to see where Pavel was coming from, already feeling the see he had planted of suspicion begin to grow.

 

You kissed your teeth to exaggerate your annoyance and hung just before he could start yelling at you. Alexey absolutely despised when you did this gesture, but you gained a vengeful satisfaction whenever he himself was being irritated.

 

You looked around and sighed before facing the soldier with a blank face so he couldn’t see how truly pissed you were with everything. First your camera, then a total stranger telling you your boyfriend isn’t the greatest guy, in fact an adulterer, and your boyfriend almost even proving it.

 

Nonetheless, you pushed back those thoughts and remained as composed as you managed and apologetically asked Pavel for a ride home. By this point, Pavel knew not to say or even do the smallest gesture, and wasn’t going to let her walk home alone, especially in this cold.

 

Despite it just being a few blocks down, the absence of the comfortable feeling had made it seem like you were travelling the whole city. When he finally arrived at your apartment building, he sat in silence with no farewells. Pavel felt a strange guilt that he didn’t want to leave as it was and spoke out just as you were going to get out of the car.

 

“Look… I’m sorry. Sorry for what I said, sorry for what I did… would you let me make it right?” his eyes, his sad, sad eyes glistened with the orange streetlights. You wanted to say no, but you felt compelled to say yes.

 

You let a long moment go by before you gave him your answer.


	4. Chapter 4.

You severed your gaze out towards the window, because you couldn’t bear the reaction you were going to cause with your answer. “I appreciate all that you’ve done for me today, but… I think it’s best we just say our goodbyes and never see each other again”. In saying this, you were a bit spiteful towards yourself when you could feel his heart break just a little bit.

 

Pavel was definitely hurt, but he did his best not to show. You got out of his car and thanked him again for everything, and when you met his eyes once more, unintentionally, he gave you a sad look. You especially felt even worse now. After he noticed himself giving you this solemn look, he immediately tore his eyes from you and pointed them toward the road. Pavel tried so hard to bite back his tongue as he so, so desperately wanted to warn you of what kind of guy your partner was.

 

“Just keep an eye on your boyfriend, alright?”

 

Those were the only flat words he left with as he sped off down the desolate road, and she wanted to be angry, but even worse, she hated herself for wanting to comply with his words.

 

***

 

As Pavel drove off, his own words had troubled him and he himself would keep an eye on her boyfriend if he had the chance, entrusting his skills at “surveillance” and would hope to put them to use.

 

Working himself up, he pulled into a side street, exit the jeep and began punching into the concrete wall of the side of a building. He hated himself for making any comment at all, and after a few moments of his fit, he sat down on a curb and pulled out his short flask. Taking a swig, pulling his lips back into a snarl, he looked at his knuckles and cringed. “Blyadj…” muttered to himself.

 

Pavel sat on the curb for a long while, head high up to view the partially covered stars. It was cold, and it was peaceful, and Pavel needed something like this right now, only there was something missing. It was someone to talk to, not just a friend, and probably not quite talking, he just needed someone there.

 

He waited for a bit, as if someone could hear his yearning and magically join him, but he stopped waiting and dropped his head to look at his feet. *“Ah well. A couple of drinks are always good company.”* He had convinced himself he’d be able to find his resolution from tonight’s events at the bottom of a bottle and headed toward the closest bar.

 

***

 

After a good hour of lying there, the pain in your leg had not ceased pulsating with agony. It wasn’t too bad but you weren’t sure if you should go to the hospital or not, Pavel did say it was fine, but you couldn’t exactly take the word of a stranger, not only that, but you had the issue with having no health care benefits and you weren’t exactly rolling around in money.

 

You sat up carefully and looked at the time, 10:17pm. You wondered if elevating your leg would make much of a difference and lay there for 15 minutes. Still the pain was there, but another eerie feeling had kept you awake. An almost empty feeling… no, not quite empty, just missing, almost even a tugging feeling had pulled inside at your chest.

 

Unable to shake the feeling off, you wobbled over to the window, maybe something could pop in your mind if you gazed into nothingness. The whole night you sat by the window, in and out of sleep from the pain and that constant pull you felt, until hours had gone by like minutes and awoke from the sun blazing through the large window.

 

***

 

As Pavel walked into the bar, he noticed it was near empty except for the one group of men sitting in the corner. Their loud talking and guts full of laughter and alcohol, had shifted Pavel towards the bar rather than a booth to himself. He ordered a drink of bourbon and asked the bartender to leave the bottle. At first the bartender was hesitant, but Pavel gave him one of those cheery smiles, only the bartender could see past his façade and pursed his lips, leaving the bottle as the old man trotted off.

 

Bourbon wasn’t his favourite drink, but began downing it like water. All he really wanted right now besides someone beside him was to forget as much as he could from today, mainly the woman he met, so he didn’t have to keep reminding himself of what he said and that sooner or later, he knew, that you’d get your heart broken.

 

Pavel didn’t know what it was that made him care so much, but he wanted to go back so badly and prove what he said. He smiled goofily to himself, already three glasses of straight bourbon, he was definitely feeling it right now, but the fact was he was drinking to try and forget the evens of tonight, not mull over the feeling you gave him, which were still strange nonetheless.

 

Deep in his own thoughts, Pavel flinched when he heard a glass shatter and that loud laughter boom into the air like unexpected thunder. He hadn’t really noticed them since he got there, but now their voices were so hard to ignore.

 

*“Hey bartender!”* Pavel looked to the man who had shouted out and was pointing to the mess. Pavel didn’t mind the demanding demeanour of the man, but it was what he and his friends said and did next that troubled him to make him shift in his chair.

 

*“Where’s that lovely blonde girl that usually works nights, I’d love for her to bend over and clean my mess!”* The man had gestured an invisible woman’s behind and swayed his hips in his chair and the group of men had begun laughing again.

 

The bartender finished cleaning their mess, *“And what of your wife Ellena?”* At these words Pavel felt an igniting spark light up somewhere in the back of his mind. The man looked to his friends and laughed *“What about her? What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her!”* Pavel could feel his fists tightening and was preparing to pay and leave, however, the old bartender muttered something under his breath spitefully which caused an aggressive reaction from the unfaithful man.

 

Before the man had reached the bartender to strike at him from behind, Pavel had managed to make his way from across the room just in time to strike the rude customer swiftly, knocking him clean out. Pavel wasn’t exactly in the greatest mind set especially that he’s had a few to drink but he gained a lot of satisfaction from the punch, completely disregarding the pain till stinging at his knuckles.

 

He turned toward the rest of the men and ordered them to take their friend out of the bar and home to his wife. If it wasn’t for his uniform, they would have tried to jump him, but luckily he was too lazy to change earlier from his military attire.

 

They followed as he said in a hurry. Pavel returned to his seat and continued drinking. The old man who was 2 seconds away from having a bashed in head had begun to thank Pavel, but Pavel waved it off. *“He was a son of a bitch anyway, he should be thanking me for knocking some sense into his dumbass.”*

 

After another 2 drinks, Pavel had ceased to register anything in his mind afterward and started drifting from consciousness.

 

***

 

When you awoke, you had the worst possible pain everywhere, your neck was cramped, your back was the same, one leg was still asleep and the other still had that searing pain, and not to mention your eyes that were being blinded by the sun.

 

You wobbled your way to the kitchen and attempted to create a coffee only to look in the fridge and find and empty milk bottle. You cursed Alexey’s name, only to remind yourself where he was, surely he didn’t stay overnight at the company’s office.

 

You began to take Pavel’s word that maybe something was up, until, speak of the devil and he shall appear, keys jingled in the lock and the apartment door swung open. Alexey had entered with hands full of a guitar in one and groceries in the other. You helped him with the groceries as he put his things away. Luckily he did get milk, but there was still that lingering feeling of his absence from last night.

 

You weren’t sure if you should ask, whether you really wanted to doubt him or not. He rushed in and made a bowl of cereal after kissing you abruptly on the cheek. You really didn’t want to ask but you did despite it might lead to the end of your relationship depending on how the answer was presented. “Did you come home last night?” you weren’t exactly sure how it sounded to him, but you tried to make it sound as careless as you could.

 

He took a spoonful of cereal and nodded. You gave him a concerning look and he swallowed hard before he elaborated. “You were out like a light and thought you might not want to be moved so I put a heater behind you and went to bed. By the way, what happened to your leg?” Just as he finished, you looked over to the chair you were previously sleeping on and did noticed the small heater behind the chair.

 

He pointed to your leg again before he continued “Run into a pack of wolves or something?” you chuckled, nearly nervously with the thought in your head that if you should tell him what really happened. Instead of the truth, you had this huge urge to lie and joke as if nothing was wrong between the two of you, because everything you think of that soldier, something feels like it’s missing in the pair of Alexey and yourself.

 

“Nah, ran into these mutant inbred country people” He smiled at your playful words and continued at his cereal, waiting for a real response. “Just tripped over a loose floor board. The place is falling apart, not really eligible for a shoot.” He nodded again, “You should get it checked out, just in case.” He winked and placed his bowl in the sink, kissed you on the cheek and rushed to grab his wallet.

 

“I can’t come with you because I’m so close to a breakthrough with this song, but I’ll get you a cab.” He handed you the money and smiled to you apologetically. You returned it with the same smile and kissed him before he headed off.

 

Shortly after his leave, you thought over his words and dressed comfortably and headed out the same. When you entered the elevator, you felt like nothing, or rather you felt nothing from him anymore and you couldn’t give him anything in return. When the doors opened to the lobby, you saw the taxi waiting to go to the hospital, but you had no reason to go there and made a new destination to the book shop close by.

 

When you arrived, you looked at the clock, already 11:00 AM. You paid the driver and stood at the entrance before you yawned for what felt like a full minute. You waved to the owner cheerfully upon entering and made your way upstairs.

 

You sat down with your travel mug beside you and began to read one of Murakami’s books. You remembered that you were able to read two paragraphs but by the time the third came round, you dozed off by the windows.

 

***

 

Pavel woke groaning. His face was in agony from being planted on a wooden top the whole night and his back was stiff as a model’s posture. A loud rumbling noise in his ear had caused him to open his eyes.

 

With the hangover treating him as poor as the table did, he struggled to keep his eyes open and not to throw up as he lifted his body from the hard surface. Shifting his legs to hang off the table, he looked to his phone to see who was calling. An unknown number, which was most likely one of his customers. He didn’t bother answering it and let it ring, he did not have the patience for a phone conversation right now, especially with a major headache. Instead he waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the small screen and texted the number to meet him in the bar he was in now.

 

About half an hour had passed until someone had sat next to him. He rightly guessed it was a client. Pavel looked up from a cup of water to see a crying middle aged woman, He wasn’t too sure how to approach the subject but luckily she began. *“My husband… He, uh, came home late with a bloody nose and black eye, and I was worried sick. I just need your help. I heard of you from those street boys and just thought…”* Pavel looked over to the bartender who had returned Pavel’s stare with a sad look.

 

Pavel was 80% sure he had beat up her husband due to missing morale’s, but 100% sure once he asked if her husband was dropped off by a group of men. She nodded without sharing eye contact. Pavel sucked his teeth and revealed it was he who had done that to her husband. She looked at him as if he were a monster but assured her the situation from last night.

 

“If I were you, I’d leave him. Men like that shouldn’t be trusted, even if he only spoke it. One day his actions will be louder than his words.”* Although he didn’t mean to, but Pavel had guessed from the mixture of the hangover and last night’s encounters (in which he was trying to forget mind you) had caused him to speak spitefully, as if to a child who had done wrong, to this middle aged woman.

 

Despite his harsh words, and his urge to apologize for them, he remained strong in his conviction. There was a silence before he continued to lighten the mood. *“I’ll keep an eye on him for a fee, but I can’t stop him from going into any brothels or strip joints. And I think that will only make matters worse.”* She nodded with understanding, but she could sense he was right.

 

She thanked him with a flat tone for his advice and headed off. Although she didn’t show her face when she made her way out, Pavel could tell she was broken, crying for all the love she devoted to a scum like her husband.

 

At these thoughts, Pavel could feel himself tightening his jaw, sheer rage had dug a hole in his chest and a sour taste left in his mouth. When he could sense that the woman left the premise, he abruptly removed himself from the bar stead and headed somewhere to calm himself as an anger started to pulsate in his head, dreading that he’d do worse than just punch a wall this time. At first Pavel thought of going to a strip club or even a brothel to relieve his frustrations only to be reminded of the many other husband’s and boyfriend’s there.

 

Again that hatred had boiled in his mind and could barely think. He made his way across the street and was drawn to a quiet place. When he entered, he sensed the aroma of roasted coffee beans, sugar and toast. Pavel gave a short look around and noticed it was a dual book and café shop.

 

Now with the smell in his mind, Pavel thought it might as well do as his nerves were beginning to calm. He noticed a set of stairs after his order was ready and thought it would be better and more quiet up top.

 

Looking around, he acquired a sort of rustic feel with old wooden bookshelves and stone floor. Even with the sort of derelict look, it could pass of as a small library from the medieval ages.

 

Pavel began walking slowly through the aisles, racing his eyes over the many titles and stories. He continued like this for a while longer until he reached the end of a shelf and spotted “The Three Musketeers”. He plucked at it and was mesmerised by the cover. A sincere smiled had spread over his face as he remembered reading it as a boy.

 

Pavel thought he might as well give it a go again since it had been a while, greeting it like an old friend. Before he left, he approached to the where the window was and wanted to check on the weather before he headed out only to see a girl sitting in front of the blizzard going on outside.

 

Pavel felt a small familiarity when he looked at the girl, so he approached her more carefully. As he came closer, he started to recognise who it was but had to double check since she was facing away from him. *“Miss?”* Pavel had waited for a response before he came closer. This time he tugged a bit at her shoulder.

 

***

 

You could hear or rather feel something in your dream. It was a strange feeling, like if something was sneaking up on you, no not quite that, it was more quietly following your lead. It felt strange with the scenery. Everything seemed much the same only broken, torn down, decaying. As if Moscow city was hit with multiple bombs and a sickening feeling, nausea and a terrible smell.

 

It all seemed to be at its worst until another feeling had struck. So in your dream, you turned to see who was following you as you entered the same bookshop you were sleeping in now, emitting this new unexplainable wave that had washed over your senses. You could feel your eyes trying to adjust, focusing as hard as you could on that familiar face until he touched your arm and you felt as if you were being ripped through multiple dimensions at once.

 

Startling the both of you, you awoke with a massive jerk of the whole body and the face from your dream became clear.

 

‘—Pavel! What in the hell was he doing here!?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow it's been a while since i updated this one. I have indeed been neglecting my others stories and only working on my Grow. buuuut now i want to update this one heaaaps more, coz Pavel bby.

**Author's Note:**

> this is an au, and i will be making a non au of the same characters.


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